The present invention relates as indicated to slipover headrest pillows in general and to an easily assembled and installed slipover headrest pillow assembly in particular.
Seats for passenger vehicles, such as buses, trains and planes, are often provided with pillows or additional padding at the top of the seat back to permit the occupant to rest his head against the same. Such headrest pillows, which are particularly advantageous for the comfort of long distance passengers on intercity buses or the like, have been assembled and installed in several ways.
Specifically, a separate pillow structure may be built and attached to the seat back by fasteners. With such structure, a large open top bag with a downwardly extending attachment flap thereon is initially provided to receive a pillow insert. After the pillow is received, the top sides of the bag are secured together by stitching to form an upwardly extending attachment flap and to retain the pillow in the bag. The thus assembled pillow is then secured to the seat by folding the top and bottom attachment flaps into position to be releasably secured to the top of the seat back by a suitable fastening means. A back panel is then secured to the seat back to cover the top fasteners and top attachment flap to provide an aesthetically clean appearance and to preclude unauthorized access to such fasteners.
The above-described conventional headrest pillow has several disadvantages from assembly and maintenance standpoints. Specifically, the assembly is relatively slow and expensive because of the necessity for stitching the bag together after insertion of the pillow to enclose the same and to form the upwardly extending attachment flap. From a maintenance standpoint, the removal of the overall pillow assembly from the seat back requires release of both the back panel and attachment flap fasteners, while the replacement of the pillow insert itself further requires the stitching on the bag sides to be ripped out, a new pillow to be inserted, and the bag sides to be resewn. Although this particular headrest pillow form is not shown in the patented art, analogous headrest pillow support frames secured to the seat by pockets (De Montfort U.S. Pat. No. 3,073,649), by straps (Kailenta U.S. Pat. No. 2,557,874 and Earl U.S. Pat. No. 3,578,383) and by wrap-around fabric panels (Vogler U.S. Pat. No. 3,867,266) are disclosed in the parenthetically noted patents.
The above described bag was improved by increasing the width of the top opening and stitching the top attachment flap to preform an intermediate pillow compartment. This permitted all of the stitching to be done at one time, and the pillow subsequently to be inserted through the relatively wide opening and attachment flap into the pillow compartment. The thus formed pillow was then installed on the seat back at the top by screws passing through a metal strap, the top attachment flap and the back panel and at the bottom by hog rings connecting the bottom flap to a connecting strip sewn to the seat back.
Although the improved separate pillow form decreased assembly time, it was still relatively difficult to insert the pillow through the top opening and flap into the performed pillow compartment. Moreover, maintenance on the pillow required relatively time consuming removal of the fasteners and hog rings and then reconnection of the same upon pillow replacement. In both bag forms, the pillow could be removed without authorization by cutting the top and bottom attachment flaps.
Alternatively, another headrest pillow form consisting of an integrally molded seat back core having a headrest pillow formed thereon has been used. Such core is subsequently covered by an upholstered seat back cover assembly, a headcap assembly and a back panel. Such headcap assembly basically consists of an open bottom, box-like cover slipped over the top of the seat back assembly with such headcap subsequently being secured to the seat back by the back panel member embracingly enclosing the same.
The integrally molded seat back core is relatively expensive to purchase, and if the headrest portion wears out, the entire core must be replaced. Moreover, such integrally molded core is relatively hard and does not provide the comfort to the passenger of a separate headrest pillow.
The principal object of the present invention is to overcome such disadvantages in the prior art by providing a headrest pillow that is easily assembled, installed, and replaced while providing a relatively soft head support.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a headrest pillow assembly formed by an invaginable cover having a pocket thereon, with such pocket initially being exposed for insertion of a pillow and then being enclosed within the cover by invagination. By invaginating the cover, the easily installed pillow is fully securely enclosed, and the overall assembly is easily mounted to the seat by such cover forming a support compartment after invagination. Although the concept of turning covers inside out to encase a wedge shape sleeping pillow is shown in Emery U.S. Pat. No. 3,389,411, such patent does not relate to an invaginable pocketed cover for pillow reception and support functions to provide the above recited advantages.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a headrest pillow assembly having an invaginable cover including a pillow reception pocket with a flap thereon that doesn't interfere with assembly and installation but protects the pillow in use from dirt, wear, and tampering. Such pocket and flap may be formed by sewing a single fabric piece to the proper cover edges along one end and part of the opposed sides thereof, thereby to form a pocket within the sewn edges and to form a flap from the freely hanging, unsewn portion of the fabric piece. Such flap permits the pillow to be inserted into the pocket and the cover then invaginated and installed without obstruction, with the flap in the installed position extending over and conforming to the seat back to cover and enclose the pillow.
To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the invention, then, comprises the features hereinafter fully described in the specification and particularly pointed out in the claims, the following description and the annexed drawing setting forth in detail certain illustrative embodiments of the invention, these being indicative, however, of but one of the various ways in which the principles of the invention may be employed.